


A Different Kind of Adventure

by pianobookworm



Series: Avengers West [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton Has A Secret, Scholl Ranch, Tony Stark Blows Something Up, Tony Stark Does Science, Tony Stark Gets Lost, Tony Stark On A Ranch, Western, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pianobookworm/pseuds/pianobookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark lands on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. The people there are nice, but they don't know who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Study In Science

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, I don't own any Marvel characters. Anyway, I hope you like this little thing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I don't own any Marvel characters. Anyway, I hope you like this little thing! It's unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Tony Stark closed his eyes and leaned against the table for a moment, catching his breath. He had been working on a new project for the last twenty-two hours, and he was taking a breath and recovering his thoughts as he prepared to work for the next several hours as well. He knew Pepper would kill him if she realized how little he had slept, but he didn’t care…that much.

Ever since he had had the shrapnel removed from his chest, he had wondered what to do with himself. It was just so… different… not having to depend on the reactor in his chest to keep him alive. It was freeing, but also strangely terrifying. And it would be strange, building new suits with reactors of their own, instead of constructing them to use his reactor. Not difficult, but strange. So he had decided that instead of working on yet another new suit, he would try something different. Something more difficult.

He had been inspired after he saw the tesseract in action. Before, he wasn’t sure if it was possible to make a portal/teleport device. But now…? The possibilities were endless. He had had Jarvis run some diagnostics after the whole affair with the Mandarin, when he had wanted to start doing something else, rather than obsessively building suit after suit. Finally, he had some measurements that he could use.

He wasn’t going to start big, with world-jumping or anything like that. Nah, he would start with small trips and work up to world-jumping gradually. So far, he had only built a small prototype. The next thing left to do was to test it.

Tony slowly stood up, clutching a cup of coffee, and made his way over to the device. Taking a sip out of his mug, he set it down on a shelf, picking up a small metal box. The box had a tracking device inside, and he was going to send it through the portal/teleport and see where it went. And if it survived. That was always important.

“Hey, Jarvis, get the machine ready, ok?” he stated rather impatiently. “I wanna get this thing tested.”

“Very well, sir,” the AI responded. “However, I would not recommend testing it yet, as it does not appear to be stable.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Look, I don’t care, I didn’t work on this all night just for it to not be ready in the morning. Just turn it on, ok?”

If Jarvis had been a human, he would have sighed. But since he was merely a robot, he simply acceded to the request. “Very well, sir.”

The machine turned on, making a whirring noise and glowing yellow, to Tony’s delight. Soon a hoop of yellow had appeared above the machine.

Tony grinned. “Well, what do you know? It’s working!” He reached forward to send the box through the apparent portal.

“Sir, use caution,” Jarvis warned. “It appears to be 4.53 times stronger than we estimated.”

Disregarding the advice, Tony stepped closer to the portal and pushed the box through. It hung in the middle of the hoop for a second, then disappeared in a flurry of yellow sparks. Tony swung around, his back to the machine. “Jarvis, find out where it went!” He inadvertently took a step backwards.

“Sir, you are too close to the portal for safety,” Jarvis warned, but it was too late. Tony was sucked into the hoop, hovered there for a second, and then dissolved into a flurry of sparks.

The portal blinked, and collapsed in on itself with a snap as sparks burst from the machine.


	2. To Fall To Nowhere

Gold. That was all he could see, gold rushing all around him, through him: swirling, throbbing, living gold. He was in the middle of a cascade of flowing gold, carried along faster than he could imagine. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. The only thing that existed was gold.

oOo  


  
Tony opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, looking up at a pure blue sky, with hardly a cloud in sight. He blinked, then sat up and looked around. And blinked again. He was in a kind of field, but it wasn’t very flat. For one thing, it appeared to be on the edge of a hill. There were ridges and dips, and on one side of him, there was a large dip, that appeared to be some kind of stream bed. The only trees he could see were there. But what caught him off guard was the cattle. There were cows grazing peacefully all around him, with calves frolicking around or lying down. And he had no idea where he was.

He let out his breath in a large sigh, and rubbed his forehead nervously. This was the last thing he had expected, and he was unprepared for it. No cell phone, no suit, and he hadn’t told anyone what he was doing. Thankfully, Jarvis knew. Jarvis! Jarvis would be tracking the box—had it come through to the same place?

Urgently, Tony’s eyes darted around. With a sigh of relief, he located the box, but immediately let out a groan as he saw a cow step on it. “No, no! You can’t do that to my box!” he protested. “That’s mine!” Rushing toward the cow, he waved his arms and was relieved to see the cow slowly amble away. He knelt by the box, avoiding the cactus on the ground, and gingerly examined it. It appeared that the cow had only dented it, and had done no real damage. So hopefully Jarvis would locate the signal soon and send someone to find him.

Just as he had thought that, he heard the sound of an engine from over the crest of the hill. He walked toward the crest, just as an ATV appeared at the top. A young man was driving the ATV. He was wearing a cowboy hat, and was dressed in a ragged, grease-stained, tan-colored coat and blue jeans. As he caught sight of Tony, his eyes widened in bewilderment. Driving over to Tony, he turned the ATV off, and approached Tony.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “You’re an awful long way away from anywhere, I don’t see a vehicle anywhere, and you’re trespassing on our property. How’d you get out here anyway?”

Tony opened his mouth helplessly. “It’s kind of a long story. However, I do not wish to trespass any longer than necessary. If you let me use your phone, I could call my people to come get me.”

The young man’s eyebrows raised. “Really, hm? Well, you can come with me, but you’ll have to wait until I go home to use my phone.”

Tony frowned, puzzled. “You don’t have your phone with you? What sort of person doesn’t take their phone with them when they go somewhere?”

The young man grinned. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” His grin extended further as Tony’s jaw dropped at the comeback. “Anyway, even if you did have a phone, it wouldn’t work out here. There’s no cell service.” He laughed once more at Tony’s astonished expression. “I’m Jake. It’s nice to meet you…?”

Tony smiled and reached out his hand for a handshake. “I’m Tony. Nice to meet you as well.” 

Jake shook Tony’s hand with a firm grip. “Well, I hope I’ll be able to help you get in contact with your friends. You can come with me for now, and then I’ll take you back to my home. We’ve got a landline, and fiber-optic internet, and you can call your friends from there. But first I’ve got to finish checking on the cows.”

Tony nodded. “Okay, that’s fine with me. So, uh,” he gestured toward the cows, “what do you need to check on? They look fine to me.”

Jake shrugged. “Just if they have enough feed, water, that sort of stuff.” He motioned toward the ATV. “Well, I really can’t stand and talk all day…I’ve gotta get my work done. You might as well hop on the four-wheeler and come along.”

“You mean the ATV?”

“Yeah. But we call ‘em four-wheelers.” He stepped onto the…four-wheeler… and turned the key. The engine revved with slightly less than a roar. Jake motioned to Tony. “Well, come on, hop on!” he shouted over the noise.

Tony hesitated, then sat down on the back. “Aren’t you not supposed to have passengers on these things?” he asked.

Jake laughed. “Yeah, but who cares?”

Tony grinned. He might get to enjoy the company of this Jake. “Well, sounds good to me, just don’t kill me. I’d be a little angry if you killed me, and trust me, you don’t want to see me angry. And I’ve got a friend that’s worse.”

“Okay. Hang on tight!” Jake responded with a laugh, and the ATV leaped into action.

All at once Tony remembered why he didn’t let anyone else drive him anywhere. He did not like his life in the hands of anyone other than himself. And here he had let this…this kid… drive him around. But still, what choice did he have, he reasoned. He clutched his fingers harder around the edges of the seat and willed himself not to fall off the wildly careering vehicle.


	3. Way Out West

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tries to recover from his surprise; Pepper, JARVIS, and Natasha have a plan

After a while, Tony finally realized that Jake actually was not as reckless of a driver as he had thought. Tony had neither fallen off the four-wheeler, nor had the vehicle wrecked as they went through those gullies which Jake called “draws”. He also came to realization that Jake had absolutely no idea who he was. Tony found himself liking that fact, since that meant that Jake wasn’t just being nice to him because he was the ‘great Tony Stark’. 

He was thinking about this, when suddenly Jake stopped the four-wheeler next to a barbed-wire fence. Tony looked at Jake questioningly. “So, uh, what’re we doing now? I mean, we checked the cows, and the water, and the feed, haven’t we?” He held up his hands in a questioning gesture.

Jake nodded. “Yeah, but I saw that the fence was down.” He gestured toward the fence, which Tony now saw was not in perfect condition. Several of the wires had come loose from the posts and were sagging down, leaving a large gap in the fence.

Tony nodded sagely. “Oh, so you need to fix it? Do you have the materials?”

Jake grinned. “Yeah, I always carry around some fencing supplies. Here,” he went to the front of the four-wheeler and unscrewed the front storage compartment. “It’s a good thing all we need are some staples and a clip or two, or I would have to come back here with more supplies.” He winked at Tony. “Oh look, I even have two sets of pliers. Do you wanna help?”

When Tony nodded his assent, Jake tossed him a strange set of pliers, which appeared to combine the function of pliers, hammer and wire cutter. Tony looked at it curiously, wondering if he could possibly use a tool like this in his workshop, and if so, what functions it would have.

As Jake explained to Tony how the pliers worked, and what they needed to do, he seemed surprised by how quickly Tony picked up the skill. He nodded approvingly as Tony drove a staple into a wooden post around a strand of wire.

“So what do you do, Tony?” he asked curiously. “Most people take a little practice before they can drive a staple as well as you can.”

Tony shrugged. “Guess you could say I’m sort of a mechanic, a bit of a blacksmith too. I’m used to using a hammer.”

Jake nodded matter-of-factly. “Nice. So where do you live?”

Tony hesitated, then decided that it didn’t really matter if he told the truth. “I used to live in California, then I moved to New York City last year.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “So you were there for the whole alien invasion thing?”

Tony smirked. “Yeah. That was a little freaky.”

“You kidding? We hardly believed it out here. I mean, I didn’t even think aliens existed. Then here they are, invading NYC.” Jake shook his head. “Guess it was a good thing those super-hero guys saved the day.”

Nodding in agreement, Tony asked, “So, uh, what do you think of these super-heroes?”

Jake looked pensive. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’m really glad that they stopped those alien dudes before they took over the world. But then…they just disappeared. We don’t know much about them at all. And they’re kinda scary, y’know what I mean?”

Tony frowned. “Actually, y’know, I’m not sure I do. Could you explain a bit more?”

Nodding, Jake assented. “Well, there’s Captain America. It’s really great if he’s actually come back, and he sure helped New York out, but how do we know it’s actually him? I’m sure the government knows. But how does anyone else know for sure? Then there’s Iron Man.”

Tony forced himself to not look any more interested than he already had been. “What about Iron Man?”

Jake shrugged. “Actually, he seems one of the least mysterious of the lot. I thought he was really stuck-up when we started hearing about him on the news a few years back, but what he did against the aliens was really good. And then, just last month, he saved the president. I think he’s okay—if a little too full of himself.”

Tony’s lips twisted ironically. Well, this is what happens when they don’t know who you are, Tony, he told himself. Shaking his head ruefully, he inquired of Jake, “What about the others?”

Jake scratched his head and looked off into the distance thoughtfully. “Well, let’s see, there’s the Hulk. That guy has done a lot of damage in the past, but it was nice to see him on the good side this time. But there’s the fact that he’s completely out of control.”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know about that. I’ve heard the man is actually a pretty great guy.”

Jake huffed. “That could be, but the problem is, is no one know if he is or not, except maybe a few higher-ups. If they would just let everyone meet them, I think it wouldn’t be so much of a problem.”

Tony frowned. “You’re saying if they get out and talk to people…?” He let his words trail off with a questioning emphasis.

“If people could meet them, I think it would be easier to trust them,” Jake clarified.

Nodding, Tony assented. “That makes sense.” When Jake didn’t answer, he continued, “So what do you think about Thor?”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Thor? Actually, I’m not sure yet. First, he’s an alien. Second, he’s hundreds, maybe thousands of years old, and was worshipped as a god at one point by humans. He actually can summon lightning with his hammer. And his brother just tried to take over the earth. It’s all so far-fetched. But it’s true, as far as I know. I have no idea what to think of Thor.” He drove the last staple into the fence post as he spoke. “There! That’s the last one. Let’s go home.” He turned and grinned at Tony. “Coming, or do you want to stay out here on your own?”

Tony hurriedly clambered back onto the four-wheeler.

oOo

“Tony? Tony, are you there in the lab?” Pepper’s voice floated down the hallway. Hearing no response, she gave an impatient huff of air and turned apologetically to the fiery-haired woman standing next to her. “I’m so sorry, Natasha. You know how he can be.” She looked at the wall and addressed the AI. “Jarvis, do you know where Tony is?”

“I have indeed located Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts. However, I do not know how you can reach him,” was the AI’s enigmatic response.

Pepper frowned. That certainly wasn’t normal. “Jarvis, tell me where Tony is,” she demanded. “Natasha needs to talk with him.”

“Very well, Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark appears to be in the northeastern section of the state of Wyoming, and he has no cell phone. Also, I cannot find any roads leading to the place where he currently is.”

Natasha smirked, reflecting that that was certainly something which could happen to Tony, although she had no idea how. Pepper frowned, concern written all over her face. “What? How did that happen?”

If Jarvis had been a human he would have given a resigned sigh, Pepper was certain. “I am afraid that is a long story, Ms. Potts.”

Pepper sighed. “Alright, spare us the details. Bring up a map so we can see where he currently is and figure out how to get him home.”

Immediately Jarvis complied, showing a holographic map with a star indicating where Tony was. Natasha’s eyes widened. “Wait…I know this place,” she muttered. After some thought, a grin crept across her face, much to Pepper’s surprise.

“What is it, Natasha?” she asked.

Natasha gave a sly smile. “You don’t need to worry about Tony. But hopefully you don’t mind him being gone for a few days, maybe a week?”


	4. A Man Without A Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony meets his hosts. They don't know who he is. Well, most of them...

After crossing several draws, a dry riverbed, and going through several gates, Tony and Jake finally reached the ranch buildings. There were several buildings—both barns and houses—clustered together, along with a large corral. Vehicles of all shapes and descriptions (but mostly old and battered) were scattered throughout. Jake parked the four-wheeler in front of the largest house, which was white with a dark green roof.

“Well, here we are,” he remarked to Tony. Tony nodded, his quick eyes taking in all the details of the architecture. It didn’t appear to be an ordinary house: little details were evident, showing evidence of custom designing. Little things made the house more efficient—a little more overhang than usual on the south side, vents visible on the roof, and other small things. Tony stepped inside.   
“Nice house you’ve got here.”

Jake grinned. “Thanks. Dad and I built most of it ourselves.”

They were standing in a mud room of sorts in the walk-in basement. Jake gestured toward an empty coat hook. “You can put your shoes over under there.”

Tony started taking his shoes off as Jake called up the stairs, “Hey, Dad, I found someone out in the Baker pasture.”

There was a vague reply, and then Tony heard boots coming down the stairs. A man with a long, bushy beard and and a wide grin came into view. Jake smiled. “Dad, this is Tony. I found him lost on the Baker place.” He turned to Tony. “Tony, this is my dad, Erwin Scholl.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Nice to meet you, Erwin. Although, with that beard, I was expecting your name to be something more like Z.Z.Top.” Mentally, he cringed. He had forgotten that since they didn’t know he was Tony Stark, he couldn’t get away with anything he wanted to say… But Erwin was laughing.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he replied, extending his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Tony.”

Tony smiled. It was nice to know that he hadn’t offended Erwin. But now Erwin gestured them upstairs. 

“Well, come, I want to introduce you to my family, and we can see about helping you get back to where you come from.” He turned and led the way upstairs. 

As they reached the top of the stairs, Tony saw a woman getting a meal ready. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a loose french braid. She turned and smiled at them. “Hello,” she greeted, extending her hand toward Tony. “I’m Maria, Erwin’s wife.”

“Tony,” he replied, as he shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Maria.”

She smiled. “So where are you from, Tony?”

Tony was opening his mouth to reply when he heard steps behind him and a voice called, “Mom? What’s happening?” He turned around to see a staircase going up to a higher floor, and a girl about eighteen years old just stepping off the last step. As her glance fell on Tony, her eyes widened. She looked like she was about to say something, but apparently decided against that at the last minute. Recovering her composure admirably well, Tony thought, she smiled and came up to them. 

Erwin grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. “Tony, this is my daughter, Daisy.”

Daisy smiled. “Nice to meet you, Tony. What brings you here?”

Tony glanced down. “It’s a long story, but it ends up with me getting lost.” He paused for dramatic effect. “In the middle of your pasture. Jake found me and brought me here so I could get in touch with my people to come get me.”  
Daisy raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

Maria rushed forward, all concern. “Oh, you need to call your friends? You can use our phone…it’s fine, we don’t mind.” She directed Tony toward the phone. “Here, you can call right now, if you want,” she smiled, placing the phone in his hands. 

Tony hesitated. “I don’t…”

Flapping her hands, Maria shooed him into another room. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Call your friends, and then we can talk to you.” She closed the door and left him alone.

Tony rubbed his forehead. _Well, if that’s how it is, I may as well call Pepper. Good thing I still memorize a few phone numbers…_

Soon he was waiting as Pepper’s phone rang.

“Hello, this is Virginia Potts speaking,” her crisp voice came over the phone.

Tony gave a small smile. “Hey, Pepper, it’s me.”

There was a sharp intake of breath at the other end of the line. Then Pepper’s voice rang out, sharp and clear. “I am so going to kill you when you get home, Tony! How dare you do this to me? Especially after the Extremis deal! You can’t keep doing this to me, Tony!”

Tony chuckled. “I’m glad to hear your voice too, Pepper.”

Pepper let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, at least you’re safe. We know where you are because Jarvis tracked you.”

“Okay, great. When can you send someone to get me?”

Tony could’ve almost sworn he heard Pepper smile. “Well, it turns out, we know someone who’s going to that ranch tomorrow. But he’s going to be staying there for about a week—do you mind staying there as well?”

“No, don’t mind,” Tony replied in an offhand manner. “Y’know, Pepper, it’s actually kind of nice when they don’t know I’m Tony Stark.”

Pepper gave a short laugh. “I’m sure, Tony. But make sure you don’t push it.”

“What, you don’t trust me?”

“Of course I don’t.” 

Tony smirked at Pepper’s reply. “Okay, fair enough.”

“Good. Now, it would probably be best if I spoke with Mrs. Scholl.”

“Oh, right, yeah. Good idea.”  
Tony left the room, phone in hand, and explained a little bit to Maria. She smiled and took the phone from him.

oOo

“Is this Mrs. Scholl?” Pepper asked as she heard a friendly voice greet her.

“Yes, that’s me, but you can just call me Maria.”

“Why thank you, Maria,” Pepper smiled. “Did Tony explain the situation to you?”

“A little bit,” Maria replied. “You can’t pick him up right away, so he needs to stay for a few days?”

“Well, not exactly. But his friend is coming to stay at your ranch tomorrow, so we were wondering if it would be alright for Tony to stay with his friend.”

“Oh, I see,” Maria responded. “I think that would be fine… You might want to talk with my daughter, though. She’s the one who arranges things for our guests.”

“Oh, yes, please, that would be good.” 

Pepper heard the phone being transferred and then a new voice at the end of the line.

“Hello, this is Daisy,” the voice said. “I presume I am speaking to Pepper Potts?”

Pepper’s eyebrows rose in surprise. I thought Tony said they didn’t know who he was. “Why, yes. How did you know?”

Daisy laughed. “I recognized him. But don’t worry, I don’t think any of the rest of my family did. So he would like to stay here while his friend is here?”

oOo

When Tony handed the phone over to Maria, he was instantly attacked by three small children.

“Who are you?” a boy about seven years old asked.

“Will you play with us?” a girl about five years old demanded.

“I can wite my name!” a girl about three years old declared. And all these statements were said at the same time, very loudly.

“Hey, kids, leave Tony alone,” Erwin intervened. “Tony, meet my youngest children: Ryan,” Erwin motioned toward the boy, “Mandy,” the five year old girl, “and Kylie,” the three year old.

“It’s nice to meet you kids,” Tony knelt down so he was at their level. “I’m Tony.”

Mandy covered her face with her hands and peeked out through the fingers. Ryan looked down. Kylie smiled. “ ‘ill oo pway wiv me?”

Tony laughed. “Okay, I’ll play with you guys. Unless you bite. Then I won’t play with you.” He looked at them in mock seriousness. “Do you guys bite?”

All three shook their heads vehemently and stared at him with wide eyes. Erwin chuckled. “They’re a bit shy at first. Don’t worry, they’ll warm up to you.”

Just then Daisy came out. “So I guess you’re staying with us for about a week?”

Tony shrugged. “Well, if it’s ok with you guys. I don’t have a problem with that.”

Erwin grinned and clapped him on the shoulders. “It’s great! We’ll enjoy having you here, Tony.”

Jake came out a bedroom. “You’re staying with us for a week? Nice.”

“Time to eat!” Maria announced. “Everyone sit down.”

oOo

After an excellent meal, Tony stood up from the table. “That was delicious, Maria,” he complimented. “A meal like that—I’m tempted to either stay here forever or steal you so you can cook for me at my home.”

Maria laughed. “Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to be disappointed then.”

Smiling, Tony turned to Erwin. “Is there anything I can do to help around here? Seriously, I don’t want to be a burden.”

“He’s a mechanic, Dad,” Jake put in.

Erwin smiled. “Hmm, well, I don’t have any projects that you could work on right now. But I think Jake might…”

Jake grinned excitedly. “I have an old Bronco. I’ve fixed it up a lot, but it still needs work, would you like to help me fix it?”

Tony nodded. “Sure, I would be happy to help. Actually, I love working on cars.”

Soon Tony was tinkering around the old vehicle. Jake had gone to look for a part they needed, and Tony was lying underneath the car. He heard footsteps behind him and scooted out from underneath to see who it was. 

Daisy was looking at him cooly. “I know who you are,” she stated promptly.

He raised an eyebrow. “And who might that be?”

She raised an eyebrow right back at him. “Hmm, let’s see… Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist. Iron Man. Tony Stark.” She glanced at him. “That about right?”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Wait… how did you know about that?”

Daisy shrugged. “We don’t have TV. The rest of my family listens to the news on the radio. I research it. On the internet. So I know what Tony Stark looks like.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain you quoting me,” Tony retorted.

Daisy gave a half-smile. “I have my ways.” She raised one eyebrow at him. “You’re not the first to come here, you know. There’s another guy who really likes it here.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oops. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” Suddenly she grinned. “Wait… I think you might know him… He _was_ …” she trailed off.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Who else comes here?”

Daisy’s eyes danced mischievously. “I can’t tell you. But you will meet him before you leave. I can promise you that.”


	5. And Some We Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this was _Clint's_ secret getaway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I wrote this before Age of Ultron. However, I now have a headcanon that Clint sometimes comes here anyway, even though he has a ranch of his own.

Tony opened his eyes. The ceiling was wrong—it was steel, not the usual white walls above him. Looking around, he saw that he was in a much smaller room than normal, and he now recalled that the sheets were not as fine as he was used to. Then it all came back to him with a rush—the experiment, the accident, and landing on the ranch. That night they had given him a guest room to sleep in.

He gave a sly smile as he remembered Daisy’s enigmatic words from the previous afternoon. Well, today his ‘friend’ would be arriving. Maybe he would know something about what Daisy was referring to.

Quickly he jumped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to clean up—he didn’t have any fresh clothes, but he could still comb his hair, at least.

oOo

Everyone in the family ate breakfast together—a slightly novel experience for Tony, as he was used to just catching a bite whenever—and discussed plans for the day’s activities. A pasture needed work on the fences, and Tony agreed to accompany Jake to help fix the fence. “Fencing” was what Jake and Erwin called it.

Maria and Daisy were going to be busy preparing for the guest, who would arrive sometime in the afternoon. Erwin was planning to check on some cows at a different place—he would be gone most of the day.

Soon Jake and Tony had gathered up the supplies they needed (metal fence posts, wire, staples, wire clips, fencing pliers, wire stretchers) and stopped back at the house to pick up some water and a sack lunch, since they would be gone past lunchtime.

Daisy brought out the coolers to them. She smiled as she handed the food and water to Tony through the window of the pickup truck. “Have a good day, guys.”

Tony smirked. “I’ll do my best, although,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “I may have trouble, since I’ll be occupied with a mystery a certain someone has presented to me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh please.” She started walking back toward the house, but turned around and waved to them as they started moving. “See ya!”

oOo

It was three in the afternoon when they returned, which was slightly later than Jake had estimated. They had had trouble with the pickup trying to break down, but Tony had fixed it. With wire and baling twine, which was an impressive feat by Jake’s standards. But they had finally managed to make it back, although with rather smudged and dirty faces from all the dust blowing around.

Despite the dirt, three children flung themselves at Tony and Jake as soon as they stepped in the house, demanding that they play with them.

Jake laughed, gently untangling himself from young arms. “Well, what are you playing?”

Mandy grinned mischievously as she looked up at Jake from where her arms were wrapped around his legs. “We’re seeing who can make the funniest faces!” she declared enthusiastically.

Ryan looked up at Tony with a wicked glint in his eye. “And you have to play with us, because you said you would yesterday, but you never did.”

Tiny crossed his arms, rolled his eyes, and made the best exasperated face that he could conjure up. “Really, guys? One careless word and you blackmail me?”

The three kids burst out in breathless laughter. “Dat was funny!” giggled Kylie. “Aden! Do’t aden!”

Soon the four of them (Jake had made his escape) were crossing eyes, puffing cheeks out, and pulling their faces into all sorts of grotesque figures. Maria and Daisy shook their heads in fond disapproval as they watched. 

But it was interrupted when a sleek black car pulled up to the ranch house. Tony didn’t notice it at first, but he looked up when he heard the door open and Daisy and Maria go out to greet their guest. Then the kids noticed and crowded to the window to see who was here.

“It’s Clint!” Ryan exclaimed. “Treehouses!”

“Yay! Bows and arrows!” squealed Mandy. “It’s so fun when Clint comes!”

“Yay, Clint!” echoed Kylie.

Tony could only stare as the familiar figure stepped out of the car and swung two bags over his shoulder. Daisy greeted him with a smile, and he grinned back, which was a surprise in itself. Maria gestured him inside.

“It’s good to be back,” Clint Barton remarked as he stepped in the door. “I do like this place.” He turned to Daisy with a mock seriousness. “Have you taken care of my chickens?”

She gave a dry laugh. “Yeah. They’re fine.”  
At last Clint turned toward Tony. He raised an eyebrow. “Hey, pal. Heard you needed a lift and some clothes.”

Tony nodded skeptically. “Well, that is the unfortunate truth.” He narrowed his eyes. “You, however, were not the ‘friend’ I was expecting.” He pulled a ‘thoughtful’ face. “Actually, I didn’t know who to expect. But it certainly wasn’t you.”

Clint smirked. “There’s more to me than meets the eye.”

That was when Tony snapped. He wasn’t angry, not really. Just…indignant. Righteously indignant, he reasoned to himself. So he raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked sarcastically. “I never would have guessed. Clint has a secret getaway he never tells anyone about! Oh my!”

Clint raised both his eyebrows in mild astonishment. “Hey, I don’t tell a lot of people about a lot of things.” He frowned. “And this _was_ my secret getaway. I’m guessing it won’t be so secret anymore.”

Tony shrugged. “Aw, don’t worry. It’ll still be secret. You just might have to…share. A little bit.”

Clint rolled his eyes. “Right.”

Just then Daisy giggled. Both Tony and Clint looked up in surprise, to find Jake, Maria, Daisy, and the kids all staring at them in amusement.

Clint narrowed his eyes at Daisy. “You know, right now you’re reminding me of someone I met a while back.”

She just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. 

“She’s a little trickster.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow and widened her eyes in mock innocence. “Me? I would never.”

Tony looked at Clint. “You know, right now I agree with you for once.”


	6. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The week at the ranch. What did you _think _it would be like?__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the end. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Later Tony found Daisy and asked her about how Clint started coming to the ranch.

Daisy shrugged. “Well, I’m not really sure how he found out about us. The first I knew about it was when a group of secret-agent type people showed up here. That was the September before the aliens attacked New York, if I remember right. I think the rest of my family just thought they were weird, but the one in charge talked to me when I started showing that I was suspicious that they weren’t here just for fun.” She smiled faintly. “He was nice, but also a little bit creepy. He always had this little smile on his face, whether he was displeased or whether he liked something.”

Tony gave a sad smile at the accurate description of Agent Coulson. “Yeah, I knew the guy. He was a good man.”

Daisy looked at Tony intently. “You said ‘was’. What happened?”  
Tony shook his head. “He…died. When Loki tried to take over the world.”

Daisy’s eyes widened in shock and she covered her mouth with her hand. “He…died? That’s awful!” 

Tony looked down. “Yeah,” he answered. He couldn’t trust himself to say more. He took a deep breath and smiled up at Daisy. “So what did he say when he talked to you?’

Slightly subdued, Daisy continued. “Well, he said he was checking the ranch to make sure we were safe for some clients of his. So I asked him if we were safe, and he said that he thought we were.” She paused. “A few weeks after they left, Clint called and asked if he could come here.”

Tony nodded. “I see. And he’s been coming ever since?”

Daisy assented by nodding her head. “Yeah. But not always alone. Sometimes he brings a woman with him. She’s like really awesome and cool but really scary too. Her name’s Natalie.”

Raising an eyebrow, Tony smirked. “Natalie, eh?”

oOo

Clint stood on the top of the cake bin—a large bin that held feed for the cattle. The bin itself stood high enough off the ground that a pickup truck could drive underneath to get a load of feed. The top of the bin was close to twenty feet off the ground. That of course was nothing to Clint, but Maria wasn’t worried about Clint. She was worried about Ryan, who was eagerly following Clint up the ladder to the top. It appeared that Clint was fastening something to the top of the bin, but she couldn’t make out quite what it was as she watched from the window of the house.

Then Clint jumped off the cake bin. Maria almost fainted, but he didn’t fall. Instead, he was gliding along on a zip line that stretched over the corrals. 

When Ryan followed Clint’s example, Maria stopped watching. She couldn’t take it anymore.

oOo

Zzzip thunk! Tony jerked back as a makeshift arrow hit the fencepost as he was trying to fasten a wire to it. Scowling, he looked around.

“Clint! I swear, I will kill you!”

Giggling came from behind him. Whirling around, he observed Clint showing Mandy how to hold the bow he had fashioned from a cottonwood sapling. 

Clint shook his head at Tony. “Oh dear. You shouldn’t swear in front of the children, Tony.”

oOo

Of course Clint would have brought his iPad, and Tony was stuck without any technology of his own. He glowered as he watched the kids crowd around Clint to watch a video—one about archery, of course.

Daisy came up to Tony. “You, know, I have a computer you could borrow if you would like,” she commented in a conspiratorial tone.

Tony looked at her sharply. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Just…don’t break it, please. You can do stuff with it, but don’t change it too much.”

Tony winked at her. “Don’t worry. If I change it, it will be for the better.” Then he looked at Clint and frowned. “I have some hacking to do…”

The next time Clint brought out his iPad, he was flabbergasted when it started playing country music and he could not turn it off, however much he tried.

oOo

“Yah! Yah!” Tony waved his arms. “Move, you idiotic cow!”

The cow in question simply continued grazing, staring at Tony reproachfully.

Tony rolled his eyes and looked at Ryan and Mandy, who were having trouble concealing their grins. “How do you get this cow to move?”

Ryan jumped forward, eager to demonstrated. “Like this!” He ran at the cow, yelling, and slapped her on the rump.

Making a low grumbling noise in her throat, the cow reluctantly stepped forward in the direction of the corrals.

Mandy grinned up at Tony and patted his arm sympathetically. “Don’t worry. The milk cows are always lazy, and they don’t care if you yell at them.”

oOo

As the week drew to a close, Tony realized that he really enjoyed himself here, and it was obvious Clint did as well. On the day before they left to head back to New York, he pulled Daisy aside.

“So, Daisy, I was thinking…” he started.

Daisy raised her eyebrows. “That’s always dangerous. What were you thinking about?”

“Well, I like it here. A lot.”

Daisy smiled. “That’s good.”

“Yeah. And I think that maybe some of my friends might like it here too.”  
Daisy’s eyes widened. “Your friends? Do you mean…?”

Tony winked. “Exactly. So how could I go about getting them here?”

Daisy giggled. “Hmm. I think Captain America would be the hardest. Dad and Jake both know what he looks like. Maybe if he grew a beard…?”

Tony snickered. “That’ll be the day. But I was thinking that Bruce would really like it out here.”

“Bruce?” Daisy asked, perplexed. “Who’s he?”

“Doctor Bruce Banner. Has a big green ‘condition’.”

Daisy’s eyes went even wider. “The Hulk? Isn’t that a little…dangerous?”

Tony smirked. “Actually, he’s a really nice guy. You would like him.”

Nodding doubtfully, Daisy assented. “Okay. He would be fine. None of us would recognize him.”

They continued plotting for a while, discussing various ideas on how to get the Avengers to the ranch, and still have them remain a secret.

Then Daisy remarked, “You know, it might be nice to see Iron Man fly over one of these days.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You think? I don’t think you want what that would entail.”

“What would that be?”

“Oh, probably a monster or a terrorist organization, maybe an assassin or two, and of course the paparazzi,” Tony deadpanned.

Daisy laughed. “Sure. Yeah…I don’t really want any of those things around here. Still….it would be cool to see Iron Man.”

Tony smiled. “Well, I’ll have to see what I can do.”


End file.
